Popular social-networking sites Facebook and MySpace have made news recently for all the wrong reasons: Authorities allege sex offenders lurk on these Web destinations looking for young users.

Jeanette Symons, an experienced entrepreneur and parent, has made protecting children online a business. Her Emeryville-based Imbee, designed for children ages 8 to 14, now has 40,000 kids and parents as registered users.

She says knowing what kids are doing is the first line of defense. But it’s not the last. Here are excerpts from an interview:

QWhat are the first steps parents should take?

AAdults need to learn how kids use the Internet. Parents have to be online themselves enough to understand what the kids are doing. Kids use social-networking sites and other tools just to hang out. Adults don’t hang out online the same way kids do.

QCan parents simply keep their kids off the Internet?

AYou have to let your kids online and let them connect to people they know. If you don’t, they will go online anyway. But it’s important for parents to get involved when their kids are young. It is no different than saying, “Where are you going after school today?” Parents also need to make sure kids understand the difference between a real life friend and an online friend.

QWhat do kids need to know before they go online?

AThe thing they understand the least when they are online is who they are sharing information with. They don’t understand (that you) don’t put your full name and phone number. When they do, it never gets unpublished. It’s something they can’t get away from.

QHow should kids be taught to behave online?

AGood citizenship and good manners should still exist on the Internet. There is a lot of that that is lost. (For instance) the bullying of other kids is really growing online. They chit-chat and slam other kids. Kids don’t think about it. Parents don’t think about it. But it really does mirror what we see on the playground. The online bully translates to an offline bully.

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